On voting
The writer is a lawyer with a Master’s degree from Northeastern University
We cannot go on with democracy anymore. Democracy is not working for Pakistan; it never did and it will not for the next 50 years. Let us examine why.
Giving voting rights to an uneducated group of people is like giving a monkey a gun. Very dangerous. Compare this ill-mannered example to the uneducated masses of Pakistan (with all due respect). Should we really be allowing people, who sell their vote on a plate of biryani, to decide the future of a nation? How can we be assured that such people will vote in the right candidates?
Take the example of two electoral candidates debating before primarily uneducated and hungry masses. One candidate being a farmer and the other being a neurologist. The farmer in his debate promises the citizens free produce from his farm for the next 5 years along with free picnic points. He promises free food, free vegetables and everything he can grow, free for the citizens. He even goes as far as ensuring free dairy products for the people.
How do you expect the neurologist to top that? No neurologist in the world could top that. I don’t see even Einstein topping that.
The point here is, voting rights should only be bestowed upon those who carry enough intellect to know how to vote. Voting should not be a birthright. It should be earned.
Yes, the Greek philosopher Socrates put this view forward. He warned against the catastrophes that would be caused by democracy and he was right.
Democracy works well amongst voters who carry enough grey matter to weigh between candidates to see what they offer. Voters, who have some idea of how economies are run, how bureaucracies are run and how systems around the world are being run. Not voters who haven’t seen the light of day outside their villages or cities.
Voters need to be people who have travelled at least a little to learn how democracies function and how they are functioning around the world. Where votes, not on the face of it, but quite literally, influence the outcome of an election.
Plato advocated for a totalitarian regime, am I advocating for that? Maybe. Maybe not. But democracies tend to fail and they tend to reach a point where people call out for a dictator to come and save them. Is that the route we are currently on?
Do dictatorships create tyrants? Not really. Democracies create tyrants. The same set of voters who keep voting in the same people create tyrants.
Professor Richard Dawkins continues to struggle with this too. He believes that it would be a grave mistake to hand over the reins of a country over to a set of uneducated people who have no idea how countries are run. Such people would impose equally wretched beings over the country leading to flawed policymaking and frivolous laws.
What is the solution for democracy? Education. A nation with an uneducated majority should not be allowed to vote. Until a people gain widespread education, a nation should not adopt democracy. Instead, it should be run under the auspices of dictators. An unwashed mob cannot and should not have the right to elect its leaders.
Only a man who knows how to rule should be allowed to rule. No one else, who is not fit for the job, should be allowed to be brought in and given power.
Voting, as Socrates believed, is a skill which is possessed by only a few and continues to evade many.
On 8th February, assuming elections take place, please learn about the candidate you’re voting for. Learn about their history, their education, their achievements and whether they spend more time in Pakistan or outside Pakistan. Keep your emotions aside and think rationally. The candidate you are voting for, will you see them again soon or will you never see them again?
As for me, I believe that only a skilled sailor should sail the boat. Doesn’t matter if everyone likes the sailor or not.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 29th, 2024.
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